zanemoseley
Active Member
I was wondering if a maxima would do ok on the sand of a 75 with 250w MH's. The sand is about 3" deep.
Will a maxima be ok on the bottom of a 75 w/250 MH's
- Thread starter zanemoseley
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fishman830
Active Member
what's the height of the tank???
zanemoseley
Active Member
Tank is 21" high total, sand is 3", MH's are 8" off the surface of the water.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
zane I keep all five major species of Tridacnas on the sandbed in my 24" deep tank under my DE 250s 10k ushios with no problem. What bulbs are you running?
zanemoseley
Active Member
Right now I've got my tank with two different bulbs, one side is a XM 10k and the other is a XM 20k.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
You should be fine, although I'd put them on the 10k side to be safe. Either way, you'll notice a very gradual lightening of your clam if it's not happy, in which case you could just move it up. as I said though, mine are all happy on my sandbed.
zanemoseley
Active Member
When it is on the bottom will its foot go all the way to the bottom and attach to the glass or will it just sit on the top of the sand. Also if I do put it on a rock how hard are they to get off if I want to move it later? Also do I have to feed a 2" maxima or will it be ok with just light.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
It's a good idea to give all of your clams a small rock that it will attach it's foot to. This allows you to move them more easily, or remove them if the need arises (I've had to do a few freshwater dips that work wonders for that "pinch" problem). I've kept clams on the sand that have been happy for months with their foot not attached, but sometimes they'll wiggle their way over and attach to the rockwork, so again the small rock comes in handy.
Removing clams from a rock is a tricky business and is best avoided. Sometimes with almost no pressure they'll drop their foot and break away.
I currently give no supplemental feedings, and my smallest maxima is probably less than two inches and does fine. Either he's fine without food or is getting enough from algae grown within the tank. My personal opinion through experience is that supplemental feeding of phyto is not necessary for most clams offered on the market. I have though seen some very tiny clams offered for sale sometimes that have almost no mantle exposure. There is no doubt that they feed, it's just a matter of whether or not they are receiving enough from within the ecosystem of your tank...
Hope that helps...
Removing clams from a rock is a tricky business and is best avoided. Sometimes with almost no pressure they'll drop their foot and break away.
I currently give no supplemental feedings, and my smallest maxima is probably less than two inches and does fine. Either he's fine without food or is getting enough from algae grown within the tank. My personal opinion through experience is that supplemental feeding of phyto is not necessary for most clams offered on the market. I have though seen some very tiny clams offered for sale sometimes that have almost no mantle exposure. There is no doubt that they feed, it's just a matter of whether or not they are receiving enough from within the ecosystem of your tank...
Hope that helps...
zanemoseley
Active Member
Can you give me some things to look for when I get the maxima. You refered to mantle, I suppose thats the rippling fleshy part at the top of the clam. There's suppose to be lots of that sticking out? Whats the foot suppose to look like.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
Yes the mantle is that rippling fleshy part. It's a bit hard to explain how they should appear. The best thing to do is just observe many maximas, both in person and as images, and you'll begin to see when one does not appear okay for whatever reason. There are books written about what you should look out for regarding clams, and I stongly recommend you either buy a couple or borrow them from a buddy. They're fun to read and will back up many things to look out for with pictures and the like. Also, there are many clams only forums that cater to the clam lover, where a boatload of information exists.
I recommend the book Giant Clams by Knop (although old and outdated in some respects, it's still a decent book). Also recommended highly is Reef Invertebrates by Calfo and Fenner which has an excellent clam section in it.
I recommend the book Giant Clams by Knop (although old and outdated in some respects, it's still a decent book). Also recommended highly is Reef Invertebrates by Calfo and Fenner which has an excellent clam section in it.